Stroud Kids School Holiday Specials: tinyurl.com/a32h2xy. Classes are held on days when schools have scheduled holidays or conferences. Children must be registered one week in advance of the class. Cost: $15 per child per day, $10 for each additional child in family. Early drop-off and late pickup fees are extra.

Karen M. Harris

» Social News

The kids wore their pajamas backwards and tossed ice cubes in the toilet. It worked.

You woke to a winter wonderland and no school. That means you're home with the kids. How to keep them occupied for the next eight hours?

Knitting, crocheting and embroidery — There are many fabric crafts you can do with kids. "Knitting and crocheting are really popular now," Beam said. "Have a goal. Let's make a scarf. Ruffled scarves are so popular now. I've taught so many adults and kids. These skills can go from age 10 through high school and beyond."

Basic sewing skills can be learned at A.C. Moore stores via classes, books and video. Once practiced, motifs can be transferred to jeans, shirts and tote bags. Creations can be kept or given as gifts.

Leap said that the recreation commission offers sewing and doll-making classes, so kids can learn the basics and then practice at home.

Cooking — If you don't feel comfortable with a needle, try candy making, which you can do in the microwave or with a melter. Beam suggested putting the liquid candy into molds, freeze them and you have ready-to-eat treats. Or, dip fruits or marshmallows into the liquid candy, roll in sprinkles and refrigerate.

"You can have a candy-making party, then package the treats and the kids can take them to school," she said.

For January snow days, "start thinking about Valentine's Day and make candies for the holiday," Beam said.

Leap suggested having the children help with lunch and dinner. Plan the meal together and then give them age-appropriate tasks to complete.

Scrapbooking, journaling and painting — With another whole year of holidays and milestones ahead, Beam suggested having the kids make cards. She said to stock up on stickers, paper, scissors, glitter glue and scrapbooking tools, which can be pulled out as soon as the snow piles up.

"Put the cards on a cookie sheet on top of the fridge to dry so no one touches them," she said.

A scrapbook is a great way to preserve holiday memories. The family can take photos, Christmas cards and stickers and create a reminder of the recent festivities, which can be kept or sent to the grandparents. The same can be done with the summer vacation photos.

Smash, which is a cross between journaling and scrapbooking, is a great way to take all those little mementos, from ticket stubs and restaurant coasters to newspaper clippings and school artwork, and preserve them in one place. The Smash universe contains folders and pocket keepers and calendars.

Kids also love to paint. "If you're prepared, cover the table with newspaper or craft paper and let the kids go," Beam said. "You can also use outdoor paint and sealer to let crafts such as birdhouses withstand the weather."

Organize — You've got the kids for hours, so put them to good use. They'll probably whine about having to pick up their rooms, so Beam suggests having them decorate organizers so they may feel more inclined to use them. Here's where those missing game and puzzle pieces work well. "Take the puzzle and glue it together on the outside of the organizing bin, then put complete puzzles in plastic closeable bags and store them in the box," she said.

Kids can also personalize their bins by using Mod Podge (a water-based sealer glue) on cut-out pictures from magazines, catalogs and journals.

Kids can organize the family photos, postcards, letters, their school artwork or anything else that is piling up.

Get "dirty" or "sneaky" — Leap said that the commission holds Muck & Mess classes for little ones so that they can "put their hands in squishy, gooey things." They also make modeling clay with simple ingredients. Translate the muck to home with jars of kid goo available at toy stores or even flour and water in a bowl. Recipes can be found online by searching "how to make play dough."

He also said that a good scavenger hunt throughout the house can keep kids occupied for hours. Have kids search for and bring the items to you or just write down where they saw each thing on the list. The first child to collect all the treasure gets a prize.

Invoke the season — It's winter, so how about making snowflakes? Beam suggested cutting them out of folded paper or gluing craft sticks together into snowflake shapes and paint or decorate with glitter. Let dry (use the cookie-sheet-on-the-fridge tip) and hang around the house.

Snow globes are another easy craft, and the finished product makes a great gift. Use clean glass jars. Glue craft store figurines to the inside of the lid, fill the jar with a water/glycerine mix plus some glitter for "snow," then screw the dry lid back on and invert.

Leap suggested making Christmas cookies any time of the year since any day is the perfect day for cookies.

Sledding, skating, shoeing and skiing — When the snow stops, Leap suggests "seeing the creation that Mother Nature has built."

"Take the kids sledding or ice skating," he said. There are any number of parks around if you don't have a good sledding hill in your neighborhood.

Or, stay home and make snow angels and snowmen.

Whatever you do, "get them outside," Boyle said. "There are lots of places throughout the Poconos, so long as the roads are clear."

She suggested Kettle Creek at MCEEC of Bartonsville. Any open-space property is perfect for snowshoeing or cross-country skiing, if you have the equipment. Skytop rents snowshoes, while there are many downhill ski slopes in the area.

Hunting and searching — Bring the scavenger hunt outdoors, Boyle said. "Make the list now. Then, have children look for natural items such as pinecones or a bird's nest. Children love scavenger hunts. Go online if you don't have a clue about what items to look for."

Other things to look for are "critter clues," she said. "Look for animal tracks and other animal clues such as nests or scrapes on the ground where animals dig for food." She suggested picking up or downloading an animal tracks identifier sheet.

She said that a great read with the kids is "In the Snow: Who's Been Here," a children's book by White Mills resident Lindsay Barrett George.

Boyle loves winter because "the leaves are off the trees and you can see further into the woods." This makes it easier to see nests and tracks.

Whatever you decide to do outdoors, dress warmly and continue checking for ticks, which can survive even when there is snow.

Feed and count — "Watch the birds," Boyle said. "Put up feeders and join Cornell Lab's FeederWatch, which helps to track data on bird populations, movements and diseases." Kids can also make feeders from thoroughly washed coffee cans or milk jugs. They can collect pinecones, smear them with peanut butter and hang for the birds.

Another fun project is tree identification. Pick up a "Trees of Pennsylvania" field guide by Stan Tekiela or "Trees of Pennsylvania and the Northeast" by Charles Fergus. You can even do this exercise throughout the year to compare how branches look in different seasons.